Numerous bodies have come together to write a letter to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, urging him to help deliver increased capacity, reduced journey times, improved frequency and fully accessible stations on the route.

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They believe that businesses located along the route, such as Steelite, JCB, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Toyota and Nestle, would all ‘benefit from improved connectivity’.

Services on a rail route linking Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Derby are failing to keep up with rising demand, according to a business group

The letter states that the line has seen ‘huge growth in customer patronage’ over recent years, which has put ‘huge pressure’ on the service. Problems include overcrowding, with trains typically made up of one or two carriages.

The key aims for transforming the services include:

Increasing capacity to meet both current and growing demand. All trains to be a minimum of two carriages;

Having earlier Sunday and later evening services by re-signalling;

Reducing journey times and improving frequency through half-hourly services;

Ensuring all stations are fully accessible, with suitable passenger facilities.

Sara Williams, chief executive at the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “Businesses rely on good transport links and this initiative will have massive benefits.

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"If we can improve the rail service between Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Derby, we will help people to access jobs, help businesses find the skills they need, foster trade, encourage tourism and unlock new economic development opportunities.

“The service needs to be faster, more frequent and have more carriages to meet the increasing demand on the route, as well as helping to ease congestion on our roads network.”

The Crewe-to-Derby rail line runs through Stoke station

Mark Winnington, cabinet member for economic growth at Staffordshire County Council, said: “Here in Staffordshire, we are driving the economy, attracting investment into the county and creating better jobs for people.

“Good rail and transport and improved connectivity, between the east and west in particular, are hugely important as part of wider strategic transport priorities for the whole of the Midlands.

“As a county council, we continue to play a key, active role in bringing together this partnership, the Northern Gateway Development Zone, Midlands Connect and HS2 to deliver the best results for residents and businesses.”

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Louisa Wileman, a 24-year-old general assistant, from Burton, said: “I have got on that train from Stoke station quite a lot over the past few years.

“It is pretty reliable. Sometimes it's late due to problems at Crewe, but mostly it's on time.

“However, most of the time there would always be one carriage. And if you're going at 5pm, or after college time or school, then you wouldn't get a seat unless you were on first. Only very rarely are there two carriages. That's why I travel at 2 to 3pm to avoid it being so busy.

“The proposed improvements sound like a wonderful idea.”

East Midlands Trains said it was 'supportive' of the drive by stakeholders to push for improvements on the Derby-Crewe line

Michael Ydlibi, a 23-year-old social media editor living in Shelton said: “The service is OK. I’ve noticed lately that the trains are being delayed quite often by up to 15 minutes, which is a pain.

"One problem about the service is that on a Sunday you can’t get a train back until after 3pm from Stoke or from Derby.

“The train is always busy when I get the half-five or early morning trains due to it mostly having only one carriage, which is ridiculous when people have luggage and pushchairs.

“The ideas would definitely help. The lack of carriages is the main problem as there are usually people standing up and it’s crammed. I’ve noticed on occasions when I have got it on the weekend, they have several carriages, which should be a full-time thing, especially at peak times.

“I once got a Saturday train that was one carriage full of football fans, which annoyed a lot of people as they couldn’t escape them due to it being one carriage.”

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An East Midlands Trains spokesman said: "We are fully supportive of the drive by a number of stakeholders to push for improvements on the Derby-to-Crewe line.

“There has been a huge increase in passenger numbers on many regional routes, such as Derby-to-Crewe. Now more carriages are needed for our network to improve capacity and provide a better service on these routes, which play a crucial role in connecting local communities.

"Over our franchise, we have been successful in working with key partners and stakeholders to secure extra carriages with longer trains now running on the Liverpool to Norwich route, and faster, more frequent trains between Lincoln and Nottingham. Moving forward, we want to work with the Government and our partners to replicate this success on other parts of the network to meet current and future demand."